What is Newstalk ZB?
Newstalk ZB is a New Zealand talk radio network published by NZME. NZME's own site describes the company as "an integrated media company", sets out publishing, audio, digital, events and commercial printing divisions, and carries "NZX/ASX Announcements" in its investor relations section.[2] That is the parent company's description of itself.
The station's own sport page, dated 3 May 2026, states that Newstalk ZB "is now the new home of live sport commentary including Super Rugby Pacific, All Blacks and the ANZ Netball Premiership", and tells listeners they can tune in "online on the iHeart app" or on local radio frequencies.[1]
NZME publishes results on both of the measurement systems that cover its brands: the GfK radio survey for its audio stations and a Nielsen readership overview for its publishing titles, the latter presented as "NZME Readership Q2 2026" and "Updated September 2026".[5] Newstalk ZB sits in the audio division and is measured on the first of those.[2]
What does Newstalk ZB cover?
The sport page of 3 May 2026 names three properties: Super Rugby Pacific, All Blacks matches and the ANZ Netball Premiership. It lists specific match times for Super Rugby Pacific between 8 and 16 May and for ANZ Premiership netball between 10 and 17 May, and gives no broadcast times for the All Blacks fixtures.[1] That schedule is the station's own statement of what it carried at that date; a schedule is a dated document, not a standing description.
The combination is what places the station on a sports media list rather than a news one: a rugby competition and a netball competition run on the same national commercial talk network, so rugby union and netball share the same audio slate.[1] Outside sport the network is a news and talk service within NZME's audio division.[2]
How large is Newstalk ZB's audience?
No station-level audited audience figure for Newstalk ZB could be retrieved. The New Zealand commercial radio currency is the GfK Radio Audience Measurement survey. The Radio Broadcasters Association states that "international research organisation GfK has conducted the Radio Audience Measurement in New Zealand for commercial radio", that it runs year-round on "an optimal blend of paper and electronic diaries", that about "20% is placed via research panels using demographic quotas while the remainder is placed door to door", that annual samples exceed 14,000 people aged 10 and over, and that the 2026 releases fall on 21 May, 20 August and 26 November.[3]
The Radio Bureau publishes results on the same currency, citing "GfK Commercial RAM" for S2/26 on a "Total NZ, AP10+, M-S 12mn-12mn" basis, across three surveys a year and 13 markets; the station-level tables on that page could not be read.[4]
NZME states on its own site that it reaches "3.6 million Kiwis", with no date given, and on a carousel image dated May 2026 that it "reaches 9 out of 10 Kiwis monthly". Those are the parent company's claims across all of its brands, not audited figures and not figures for this station.[2] NZME separately publishes a Nielsen readership overview, "Updated September 2026", presented as "NZME Readership Q2 2026"; the figures themselves sit in images and could not be read.[5]
Since when has Newstalk ZB existed?
No date of establishment for the Newstalk ZB network could be retrieved from a primary source, and neither NZME's site nor the station's sport page carries one.[2][1]
What is dated is the sport commitment. The station's sport page is dated Sunday 3 May 2026 and describes the network as "now the new home of live sport commentary", which places the arrangement at or shortly before that date.[1] A date of publication is not a date of commencement, and the page does not give one.
The measurement record is dated more precisely. The Radio Broadcasters Association gives the 2026 survey releases as 21 May, 20 August and 26 November, and The Radio Bureau's published basis for the second of those is "GfK Commercial RAM" S2/26 on a "Total NZ, AP10+, M-S 12mn-12mn" footing.[3][4] Those are dates for the currency, not for the station.
Why does Newstalk ZB matter in New Zealand's sport?
Because live audio commentary of the domestic season runs through it. The national talk network carries Super Rugby Pacific and the ANZ Netball Premiership on the same schedule together with All Blacks matches, which is a structural proxy for how a rugby competition and a netball competition are distributed outside television.[1]
It is also measured on a currency that covers the whole commercial market, so its position can in principle be compared with other stations on the same basis, which is not true of the parent company's own reach claims.[3][2] New Zealand, netball and broadcast rights carry the wider picture.
References
- Newstalk ZB — Newstalk ZB Sport: Your home of live commentary, page dated 3 May 2026. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- NZME — corporate site: the company's description of itself, its divisions, its investor relations section and its own reach claims. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Radio Broadcasters Association — Surveys and Research: the GfK Radio Audience Measurement survey, its method, sample and 2026 release dates. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- The Radio Bureau — New Zealand Commercial Radio Survey: GfK Commercial RAM S2/26, survey basis, number of surveys and markets. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- NZME — Nielsen Readership Survey Results, updated September 2026, presented as NZME Readership Q2 2026. Accessed 2026-09-20.